Finally, the day comes,,,,the journey - part 1

5th May

Started journey by cab to sentral. Costs RM29 but the cab went like wind.

Connect to a coach to LCCT which costs RM8. Bus left at 0630 and reached LCCT one hour later. Check in was slow- typical of a low fare carrier? Had nasi lemak for breakfast - another RM8!! Flight took off after 15 minutes delay. Touched down at 1230, a good flight.

The group was picked up by travel agent and proceeded to a chicken rice lunch which costs RM11. Yummy. Got few bottles of water and maggi from a local store. Started journey to the base at 1430. The road was windy and the weather, hot. The road was long and bumpy. Expecting to take us about 2.5 hours and ETA at base 5pm. Going uphill, the sit-in-coach has difficulty moving. 8 in the coach. Hope no breakdown. Towards end of the drive, the coach indeed couldn't move up the slope to the resort. We had to get down to lighten the load and had to carry our own luggages up a slope - is this a preview of the torture to come? haha.

After 3 torturous hours, finally checked in into the Mersilau Nature Resort.

Mersilau nature resort is very welcoming but temperature's very cold here. There are a few chalets. Like living in a jungle. We have a few rooms with bunk beds. Had an upper deck in a 8-bed bunker room. Dinner was served immediately after a short briefing by the resort's personnel on what to expect the following morning. Dinner was buffet style, mainly vegetables!! Weather was cold, very cold, think it was probably below 10 degrees celcius.

Decided not to take any shower from that point until Wed. Hot shower did not work anyway and the water was really cold. After much repacking of bags, dressed up 3 layers for the night - socks and all and went straight to sleep. Target to start climb 730 after breakfast.

The final preparations

I think I have gotten almost all the stuff that I need for the climb up Mt K. Have just bought the final piece of knee guard after searching around for some time. And the bag's there waiting to be packed. Excited? Yes, and a bit of anxiety too. Just want to get this over and come back with the pics and certificate.

T minus 10 days

Training now at T minus 10 days has been at the gym mostly. Doing the steps. Have been consistently sweating it out after work and dinner at about 8.30pm. The sweat was good, to wear myself down for bedtime. The sweat was dripping like flowing water. I did not feel the pain and hope that this will continue during the climb, without pain. While training, I feel confident of making it to the peak. I hope and hope and pray and pray that nothing will go wrong and will come back with the pictures. Well training too has kept me fit too and I have God to give praise and thanks to for allowing me this opportunity to be able to put myself in this preparation mode.

Soon it will be T minus 9, 8 and so on till 5 May. And I am looking forward,,,,,,

9 km of torture

13th April - I ran the 9km Orange Run. Though the spirit was willing, very willing but the flesh was weak, very weak. And from the run, surfaces the weaknesses that worry me for the climb. My legs gave way at slopes and boy they hurt lots for the next 2 days. Stiff like logs for the next 2 days, forcing me to walk like a zombie.

But after 2 days, yes, the spirit was up and willing again and raring to go again, this time up the mountain. Am looking forward to the climb. But first, need to continue training,,,,and yes, the pain.

It's getting near

Yesterday, 6 April marks the T-1 month countdown to the climb up Mt K. Despite this, I cannot say for sure myself that preparation has been intensed and consistent. Laziness does set in at times and last week, my body was really tired. Oh man, excuses and more excuses.

Anyway, have been climbing steps, at a friend's condo and the batu caves temple. Also have been go up the office stairs daily. Sufficient? Probably not and I am praying for God's help!

Confused state

Oh, what do I want to write? There are so many things that are happening around us and so many things in my mind at this moment. Things that are in perspective and things that are yet to be in perspective.

The aftermath of the GE08 has multiplied the thought process of everyone in this country by trillion times and gossips are still abound. Rumours too. Many things are still unsettled. Pictures remained fuzzy. How do I as one little tiny individual in this big country fit in in the macro picture of what is going on now? Fuzzy fuzzy fuzzy. God is in total control of the situation - that's the one and only thing that I am 100% sure of.

At ground zero level, I just wished that people can shut their mouth and just go about their work, to be more productive and generate more business for the economy. Shut their mouth and let the elected leaders do their job. Shut their mouth and let it remain shut. I am puzzled why people like to talk, gossip, rumour monger and the likes. Why?

Tsunami, typhoon, winds of change,,,,,all in one

Hallehuiah, as I write this, I am still in shock and still soaked in the joy from outcome of the 12th general elections. But it is Hallehuiah and Praise God for the outcome. For indeed it is through His Grace and Mercy and through His will that we see and experience this Great Tsunami of 2008, the Great Winds of Change of 2008. Glory be to God.

Penang, my homestate and Selangor, my current homestate are now out of the hands of people who have wrenched us of every single thing we have. The great corrupts. And thank God, the great sami velli is finally out,,,,,he can take his permanent retirement finally.

Praise you God. We give Thanks to You. Glory be to Your name.

It's finally here

It's finally here. Malaysians will now have a chance to re-chart our course to our destiny. I am eagerly waiting for the day to cast that very important vote. And I hope my fellow Malaysians who have been screaming, blogging, crying, protesting etc etc will now also exercise their votes wisely.

The challenge,,,,,it's tough

The preparation is not easy, it's tough but I will persevere. So far, training has been quite regular but this will have to pick up over the next many weeks. And I am very very happy that along the way, my family - my wife, and children have also joined in in the regular walks and runs.

The beginning of a challenge,,,

Monday, 21 January 2008 was the beginning of a challenge which I am going to take coming May. It's the Mt Kinabalu. I confirmed my participation with a group of church friends and therefore marks the start of a disciplined training which I will need to go through.

I know it will be a real challenge but I also know that God is and will be with me all the way.

dodo's blog

my dodo now has a blog of his own,,,,,

,,,my bloodline,,,,,,,,yoooooo

here comes my bloodline ,,,

nimber oner - my wifeeeeee,,,,a very dedicated wife and mother

nimber twooo - my princess ,,,,aiyoo, a one real princess in the making, a girl with bright eyes and,,,,

nimber t3ree - my dodo ,,, this is a real hero in the making, everything boleh,,,,

My heart sank,,,,,why is this world so cruel

Picking up the news of the ruthless child murderer few days ago really sent my heart and mind somewhere else. I can't think of any reason why the world has to be so cruel for one to live in and suffer. My heart and hands want to reach out but I feel so helpless, not knowing where and how to start. If I can, I would like to even go solo, to fight this sadistic crime that is taking place on our land.
This afternoon, picking up the latest news that the missing girl is indeed the victim of the ruthless beast, sank my even deeper and deeper into a state of chasm, an abyss, totally blank and helpless. What can I do? What can I do to help turn this land into a better place for our children?

,,,the real Malaysian spirit

Reading the musings of Tun Mahathir's daughter in the papers this morning made me felt really good. And the feeling was ,,,,,,,,,awesome. And this is the reflection of what our Awesome God can do,,,,,,bring back the true Malaysian spirit for people in this land and nation to live together as one. Imagine people of different faith and beliefs praying together to their respective gods!

I continue to pray for more healing from our Awesome God to this land.

General election ,,,,,,,,bila doohhhhhhh?????

Sampai bila lah kena tunggu ,,,,,,

My naughty one,,,,,

It's now 9.02 pm Sunday and I have a naughty monkey sitting on my laps while I type out this blog posting. His feet are curled up on my legs to make sure that he don't fall off.

It's August and everyday, I check the news, websites, blogs for indications of the calling for the next general elections. I am just looking forward to this date,,,,,,,,

general election?

I am just waiting very impatiently for the general election,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,this, next or the following month? anyone knows??????

Is this worrying or what???,,,,,,,,,

Look at the newspaper reports, read the news alerts in the various blogs and websites. I mean,,,,,, it's everywhere that we read and know of the many gossips of what's going in the daily life of our nation. But the sad thing,,,,,,,none of these are positive. Every single item of the news paint a very bleak future for this nation. I worry naturally. Particularly for the younger generation who will have to face the world when they are grown ups.

Sigh,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,sigh, sigh, sigh.

Efficiency of our power provider

On saturday night, my family and I went through a nightmare following a power failure which involved only our house. The trip started close to midnight and immediately, I made a call to Teman TNB. A report was lodged and a team will be sent, said the Tenaga staff at the end of the line. Feeling assured that the darkness and heat of the night will not be long, I waited for the team to reach. 2 hours passed and a few calls made again to the same number and each time, it was the same reply - "sedang dalam tindakan". Finally, 2 1/2 hours later, a van came and the technicians immediately went off to check the cables on the poles outside the house. 15 minutes later, the van went off, without even informing me what the problem was or what was going on. A few more calls were made and finally, I was told that a cable was found burnt and had to be replaced but there were obstacles from trees around the pole. But I said to the person at the end of the line that there is no one working on it and asked what really is going on. The same reply came - will ask for update from the team and will ask them to call you. Nothing happened, no call came in and we remained in total darkness. Finally, 5 hours after the trip, a truck came and then only I realised that the team had to go back to get a bigger transport probably due to insufficient gears and equipment. Power was restored 1/2 hour later but that meant 5.5 hours from the time a report was lodged! And during this period, we were not informed of what the problem or status of the repair work was. Typical power provider? Ever experienced such incident? Share your experience,,,,,,,,,,

Will the ants go elsewhere???,,,,,,

It is funny and at the same time worrying to read all the wayang kulit that was going on the last many months, weeks and days in our nation. On the security concern in JB, first, the ruckus in parliament house. Then the authorities decided to act. And the press decided to be in the circus too. The end result??,,,,,, there is big item in the media of all these and how our men in uniform are going to take the troubled city by storm. Great, but now, we have a problem.
Do you not think that the gangsters, criminals and men who are running wild in JB have a mind of their own. Do you think they will be stupid enough to be remaining there to be caught? Do you not think that they are also following the news in the media? Or at least their colleagues who are litterate and who follow the news could inform each other of the development? So now, we may have an even bigger problem,,,,,,,The red ants may be going elsewhere to bite.
This nation is indeed very interesting to watch. There are lots of wayang kulit going around. Keep watching.